What Is This Feeling?
by Knappster
Summary: Staubrey High School AU. Aubrey hates Stacie and Stacie likes to mess with Aubrey. Their best friends like each other so they're forced to hang out together. Side Bechloe. Tumblr prompt.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is from a tumblr prompt and I sort of got carried away so this is going to have more than one chapter (I don't know how many yet).**

 **Prompt: Aubrey and Stacie's families are super rich and do the cliche NYC life where Aubrey's family is all lawyers and accountants and Stacie's is fashion designers and she herself of course models cuz why the hell not with those legs. And Aubrey hates Stacie and Stacie loves to mess with Aubrey and it just kinda follows the messes they get into since they do go to the same school and have the same circle of friends and oh yeah they're sorta into one another.**

* * *

"Hey, Chlo!" Stacie waved and smiled at Chloe as she walked by their lockers. "Bitch."

"Harlot." Aubrey replied without looking at her.

Chloe chuckled. "I don't understand this thing between you and Stacie."

"What thing? You mean our mutual hate?"

"Yeah, I mean, it seems like you're just doing it out of habit now. When was the last time you had an actual conversation with her?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Why would I have an actual conversation with her? What would we even talk about, how far her legs can spread or how many models she screwed at her last runway show?"

"You have a lot of things in common, Bree, and you know it." Aubrey quirked her eyebrow at Chloe. "I'm just saying, it seems kinda childish that you're still mad at her for winning our 6th grade science fair."

"Her stupid rocket set fire to my stand! It wasn't fair!" Aubrey said through gritted teeth.

"Bree, I love you but you know she would've won anyway. She built a rocket." Chloe closed her locker. "I just think that maybe you should give her another chance, you might be surprised."

Aubrey scoffed and closed her locker. "The only surprise Stacie could give me is mono, and it wouldn't be that surprising coming from her."

They started to walk to their next class. "You'd have to kiss her for that." Chloe bumped her shoulder.

"Gross, I'd rather kiss Bumper."

"Well, I sort of told her we were going to her birthday party this weekend." Chloe bit her lip and looked sheepishly at Aubrey.

"Are you kidding? I'm not going to her birthday party."

Chloe skipped ahead so she could face Aubrey. "Come on, Bree, please? Beca's gonna be there."

"Ugh I don't understand your obsession with Beca." Chloe gave made her best puppy face. Aubrey steered Chloe so she wouldn't hit a group of kids. "I don't think I'm invited either way!"

"You are! She told me I could bring a guest, you're my guest!" Chloe smiled at her.

Aubrey glared at her. "But did she actually say my name?"

"Well…" Chloe twisted her lower lip to the side.

"See, I'm not going somewhere I'm not wanted."

"If I ask her if I can bring you specifically, will you come?" Chloe pouted.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "If she says yes, I'll go" Chloe squealed and started jumping and shaking her arm. "And you'll owe me big time."

* * *

Chloe bounced towards Stacie's locker and leaned next to it. "Hey, Stace!" Stacie smiled at her and put her head inside her locker to try to get her physics textbook from the back. "I was wondering if I could bring Aubrey to your party on Friday."

Stacie turned towards Chloe so fast that she hit her head with her locker door "What?"

Chloe smiled sheepishly. "I asked her to come with me?" Stacie glared at her. "I know, it's a bad idea…" Chloe looked down sadly.

Stacie pursed her lips and sighed. "She can come, I don't care."

Chloe smiled and hugged Stacie making her stumble. "Really?"

Stacie nodded and smiled back. She really liked Chloe and she didn't really hate Aubrey, she was the one with the problem with her. "Yeah, you can bring Bitchsen."

Chloe pulled back and slapped her arm, glaring at her. "Stacie! Please, be nice."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "I'm always nice, she's the bitch." Chloe quirked an eyebrow at her and tilted her head. "Okay, maybe not always. But why do you care if I'm nice?"

Stacie closed her locker. Chloe looped her arm with hers and walked her to her physics class. "Because you're my friend and she's my friend and I have the hope that maybe, someday, we can all hang out together without it turning into World War III."

"So this has nothing to do with a certain little brunette you're trying to snag?" Stacie raised her eyebrows.

Chloe blushed. "She's my best friend and you're Beca's best friend and I just want everyone to get along, is that such a bad thing?"

"Fine, bring her to the party and I promise I'll try to be on my best behavior."

* * *

Aubrey looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was down, curls falling over her shoulders. Her strapless black dress stopped at mid thigh, the pleated skirt flowing out slightly. She pulled on a pair of jeans under her dress and zipped a hoodie on top of it. She carefully tied up her hair and checked to make sure she had all her make-up in her bag. She tiptoed down the staircase and was about to reach the elevator when she heard her dad clearing his throat. "Where are you going?"

Aubrey straightened up immediately and faced her father. "Chloe's."

Her dad looked at her over the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow. "Did your mom say it was okay?"

Aubrey could feel her stomach starting to spasm. She hated lying to her dad, but technically she was going to Chloe's and then to Stacie's party. She just knew her parents wouldn't approve of her going to the party of 'that model you go to school with, I don't understand what her parents are thinking' so she just told her mom she was going over to Chloe's and she'd be back in the morning. "Yes, sir."

He looked back down at his book. "Very well, then. Make sure you're back before lunch tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Aubrey nodded once and then hurried to the elevator. She held her breath until the door closed behind her and she leaned against the wall exhaling heavily.

She waved at the doorman and walked out into the chilly New York evening. She spotted her driver standing by a couple of cars down the block and made her way to him. He smiled and opened the door for her. "Hi, Benji!"

Benji smiled back at her. "Miss Posen," he waited for her to get in. "where are we going this fine evening?"

Aubrey scrunched up her nose. She liked Benji but he was a bit weird. "Chloe's." He nodded and closed the door.

Chloe's building was only a couple of blocks away but Benji had to drive whenever she went out by herself after 9 pm, and she had already sort of lied to her parents so she didn't want to risk them finding out she had walked. It wasn't that they didn't trust her to take care of herself but her family was one of the richest and most influential families in the city. Her dad was a partner in one of the biggest law firms in the city, he specialized in corporate law and handled billion dollar deals for most of the big investment banks. Her mom was one of the best forensic accountants at the SEC. Rule enforcement was a big deal in her house, which is why she usually avoided sneaking out like this. The thought that she was doing this just to go to Stacie Conrad's party nudged the corner of her mind but she pushed it away. She was doing it because Chloe asked her to go with her.

Benji pulled up in front of Chloe's building and opened her door. "Thanks, Benji, I'll walk back home in the morning."

Benji tipped his hat. "Have fun, Miss Posen."

Aubrey waved at the doorman and walked to the elevator. She had spent half of her life in this building so everyone who worked here knew her as well as they knew the people who actually lived here. She had escaped to Chloe's every time she needed a break from her own parents. Chloe's family was more relaxed than hers, her dad was a venture capitalist and her mom ran a couple of charities. Aubrey's dad had worked on a few deals with Chloe's dad so their parents got along well enough. They had even gone to a few joint family vacations.

She hurried to Chloe's room, waving when she passed her mom in the hallway. She went in and closed the door, leaning against it and dropped her bag. Chloe looked up from her bed and threw her arms up dramatically. "Finally! What took you so long?"

"I had to wait until after dinner to change and my mom had a really long story about something that happened at work." She started to take off all her decoy clothes and let her hair down. "I just need to put on make-up and we're good to go."

Aubrey finished getting ready and turned to Chloe who was fidgeting by the door. "How do I look?"

"Wow, Bree, if I didn't know better I'd say you're trying to impress someone." Chloe smirked.

"Well, if you're going to your sworn enemy's birthday party, the least you can do is look hot." She flipped her hair and smiled cheekily.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous. Let's go." Chloe dragged her to the elevator. "Mom, we're leaving!"

Aubrey looked at Chloe with a smirk as she bounced impatiently. She looked like she was about to burst with nervous energy. She wished she felt like that about someone. The elevator opened and Chloe shot out of the building, looking around for her driver. He was all the way at the end of the block. They usually waited for him to see them and drive down, but Chloe started running toward him. Once they were seated Aubrey wrenched her arm away from Chloe. "You need to calm down."

"I know, I know. I'm just excited about seeing Beca." Chloe's grin was so wide Aubrey was afraid her face would actually split in two.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You see her every day at school."

"Yeah, but we never really do things together outside of school. And Stacie said Beca doesn't really like anyone else that's going to be there, and she's going to be busy hosting, so I'll get to hang out with her. This is my chance to really make her notice me, Bree." Chloe said seriously.

"I get that, what I don't get is why I need to be here." Aubrey said crossing her arms.

"You're here for backup and support in case it all tanks." Chloe said leaning onto her side.

The car stopped and Chloe squealed. "We're here! How do I look?"

Aubrey smiled and fixed a couple of stray red curls. "You look great. Beca won't know what hit her."

The party was at a nightclub Stacie had rented out. Some famous DJ Aubrey had never heard of had been hired to provide the music. They reached the bouncer who asked them their name disinterestedly. Chloe answered and, after a quick check on his list, he let them in.

As soon as they walked into the main area of the club, they heard Stacie making her way to them. "Chloe! You made it!" She was wearing the tightest, shortest red dress Aubrey had ever seen. The top crisscrossed over her breasts, showing off her side, most of her back, and a generous amount of cleavage. Aubrey didn't realize she had stopped breathing until Chloe let go of her arm to hug Stacie. Stacie looked at her and smiled, not as warmly as she had with Chloe, but Aubrey hadn't thought Stacie had the capacity to smile at her so it was a nice change. "Aubrey, I'm glad you could come."

Aubrey couldn't help the look of surprise and confusion on her face. Chloe gave her a pointed look and she tried her hardest to smile back. "Thank you for inviting me, Stacie."

Stacie's smile turned less forced. "I don't think I remember the last time you called me by my name."

Aubrey shrugged. "Yeah, well, you can take it as your birthday present."

"Wow, you're cheap." Stacie chuckled and stuck out her tongue. Someone behind them yelled Stacie's name and she looked over Aubrey's shoulder and lifted a finger. "Ugh I have to go play host but let me take you guys to the VIP area, that's where my actual friends are." She said winking at Chloe.

They followed Stacie to one of the corners where a bouncer was standing. There was a cordoned off area behind him and some people from school and others Aubrey didn't know where standing there, dancing or talking. Beca was sitting on one of the couches by herself, looking like she was considering whether or not to use the little umbrella in her drink to gouge her eye out.

"Yo, Becs, do you mind taking care of them while I go mingle?" She winked at her without Chloe seeing and Beca blushed.

"I'm not your entertainer." She said frowning. "But yeah, I guess they're okay."

Chloe smiled and sat unnecessarily close to Beca. "How are you?"

"Better now. This party sucks." Chloe chuckled. "One would think famous DJs would do a better job."

"One would." Chloe nodded.

Aubrey tuned out of their conversation and looked around. After a bit she found Stacie talking to a group of people. She was smiling and everyone in the group seemed to be hanging on her every word. Aubrey knew Stacie had that effect on people, that power to make everyone around her want to hear everything that came out of her mouth, to be the one she looked at and smiled at. The truth was, Aubrey didn't really hate Stacie, she was intimidated by her and she tended to avoid things that intimidated her.

The guy next to Stacie wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close and running his fingers up and down her side. She laughed and pushed him away gently but his hand stayed on her waist. Aubrey was annoyed by this and frowned. She chalked it up to being annoyed by Stacie's general floozy attitude and turned away. She excused herself from Beca and Chloe, who weren't really paying attention to her, and went to the bar to get a drink.

Stacie got away from the group of people she was talking to and looked around. She saw Beca and Chloe talking animatedly and smiled. Beca had had an insane crush on Chloe since she had transferred to their school last year. Chloe had taken a whole year to notice Beca. Admittedly, Beca spent the best part of her first year in the computer lab working on her mixes, and she hadn't had classes with Chloe until this year. Stacie had had to listen to her sighing every time she saw her from across the cafeteria. Stacie would smirk and look in the direction Beca was looking but her gaze always fell on Aubrey.

Ever since the rocket incident, Aubrey had been less than cordial with Stacie. Their constant academic rivalry had only exacerbated it. Stacie liked pushing Aubrey's buttons. She knew the blonde liked being in control and there was nothing Stacie enjoyed more than taking her control away. Stacie looked around for Aubrey. She found her standing by the bar, a drink in one hand and the other hand on her hip. Stacie took her in, from her heels, up her toned legs, to the top of her dress over her bare shoulders, and to her lips, wrapped around the straw in her drink. Stacie licked her lips. She had thought about other ways to take away her control more than once, but she knew it would never happen, Aubrey hated her too much for that.

Stacie sighed and downed her drink. She walked back to the VIP area but she couldn't see Aubrey anymore. She went to the bar and got another drink. She turned around and leaned on the bar. Chloe stood up and pulled Beca to the dancefloor. Stacie laughed and raised her glass at Beca when she looked her way. She looked confused but happy while Chloe jumped around her, her red curls bouncing in and out of her sight.

"What are you doing here all by yourself? It's your party, you should be with your friends." Aubrey slid next to her.

"My friends are a bit busy right now." She nodded her head at Beca and Chloe dancing.

Aubrey smiled. "They're so ridiculous. Chloe can't stop talking about the little midget."

"Hey! Don't call her a midget." Stacie bumped Aubrey's shoulder with her own.

Aubrey chuckled. "Maybe if her best friend wasn't so tall she wouldn't look so tiny."

Stacie scoffed. "Still, there's no need to call her names."

"You've called me way worse things." Aubrey said suddenly serious.

Stacie looked at Aubrey. She was looking down holding her drink next to her leg, her other hand holding her elbow. "Only because you called me worse things first." Stacie grazed Aubrey's hand with her pinky.

Aubrey barely felt it but she sucked in a breath and looked up at Stacie. Stacie gave her a small smile and pushed off the bar. "I should get back." She took a couple of steps away and turned back. "Oh, and Posen? Don't think this means I like you."

"I would never." Aubrey said seriously. They smiled at each other and Stacie walked away.

* * *

Aubrey followed Chloe around the cafeteria. They passed their usual table and Aubrey frowned. "Chloe, where are we…"

She stopped talking when Chloe put her tray down next to Beca. "I thought we could eat with Beca and Stacie, today. Do you mind?"

Aubrey opened her mouth. She couldn't say she minded right in front of them so she put her tray down next to Stacie and sat, smiling. "Of course not."

Stacie chuckled, she knew Aubrey was lying. "So, Beca and I were just talking about how country music is dead."

"What?" Aubrey looked like she had just said she was planning to bomb the school. Beca looked at Stacey confused because that was not what they had been talking about.

"Yeah, I mean, who even listens to that anymore? It's one of those things that have become a guilty pleasure. People are ashamed of liking country music." Stacie nodded and took a bite from her sandwich. Chloe was trying really hard not to laugh, she could tell Stacie was doing this on purpose and Aubrey was reacting just the way she wanted her to.

"People listen to country, Stacie. One of the judges from The Voice is a country singer, how much more mainstream can that get?" Aubrey pointed a baby carrot at her. "Taylor Swift started out singing country!"

"Yeah, and then she moved to pop because country is dead." Aubrey groaned. "Seriously though, when was the last time a country artist won one of the major Grammys?"

"2010. Lady Antebellum won record and song of the year." Beca answered immediately and they all turned to look at her. "What? I know music." She shrugged.

"See, 2010 was ages ago. No one even remembers that lady anymore."

"Oh my god, Stacie, Lady Antebellum is a band, not a literal lady." Aubrey wanted to smack her.

Stacie frowned confused. "Well that's a stupid name for a band."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Country is not dead. If it was why would CMT even exist?" Aubrey said decisively. Stacie quirked an eyebrow at her. "It's a country music television channel!"

"Ohhh. Well there a lot of things on television that shouldn't exist, Bree." The bell rang and Stacie got up. "Gotta go, it was lovely winning this argument." She bent down and kissed Aubrey loudly on the cheek, winking at Chloe and Beca. "Bye, guys!"

Chloe stared at Aubrey with her mouth open and Beca bit her apple to keep herself from laughing out loud. Aubrey could feel herself blushing furiously. She wasn't sure if it was because she was angry or because of the kiss. She decided it was because she was angry. She clenched her teeth. "Stacie Conrad is the most infuriating human being in the universe."

Chloe started to laugh but stopped when Aubrey glared at her. "Come on, Bree, don't take her so seriously. She's just messing with you."

Aubrey huffed and stood up. "Whatever, I have class."


	2. Chapter 2

Aubrey sat down next to Stacie, dropping her tray loudly. It was the fifth day in a row they'd had lunch with Beca and Stacie, and it always ended with her and Stacie arguing about something and Stacie kissing her cheek when the bell rang, before hurrying away to class. Aubrey knew she was only doing it to annoy her so she hadn't said anything, she didn't want her to know she was getting to her.

Chloe was already there talking to Beca. Stacie absentmindedly moved the textbook she was reading to the side so Aubrey could fit more comfortably. Chloe and Beca were talking about a mix Beca had sent Chloe the day before. Beca looked like she was about to melt from all the compliments she was getting from Chloe. Aubrey rolled her eyes and looked over at what Stacie was reading. It didn't look like any of her books. The only class they weren't together in was AP Physics so she assumed that's what it was. "Got a test?"

"Yeah, I still have two periods though." Stacie smiled at her and closed the book.

Aubrey quirked her eyebrow. "You're gonna study through History and Chem?"

Stacie shrugged. "I can go back to study and you can talk to them." Stacie motioned at Chloe and Beca with her head.

"I just meant that maybe you could have studied at home instead of during class." Aubrey grabbed her fork and turned toward her food. "But don't stop on my account, wouldn't want you to get a B."

Stacie scoffed. "Please, you know I haven't gotten a B since that insane lit teacher who insisted my interpretation of 1984 was wrong."

Aubrey smiled. "I remember that, you convinced our whole class to protest against his 'oppressive and archaic teaching system that doesn't allow for diversity of opinions and will ultimately lead to the downfall of society' or something." Stacie looked at her surprised. Aubrey half shrugged. "You took that sign everywhere for like a month."

Stacie laughed. "Yeah, well, I got my A in the end." She stuck out her tongue.

"I always suspected you didn't really care about the cause and it was all about your grade." Aubrey said narrowing her eyes and shaking her head.

"It wasn't! Art is open to interpretation, what it means to you is different than what it means to me, it could even mean something different than what it meant to the artist, and that doesn't make it wrong. My essay was good, I had strong arguments to support my opinion. I don't think even Orwell would have given me anything less than an A+." Stacie said seriously.

Aubrey looked at her thoughtfully. She hadn't actually had a real conversation with Stacie outside of class discussions before this week. She always knew Stacie was smart, no 10 year old built a functioning rocket from scratch without being some sort of genius, but she never thought she could actually enjoy talking to her until now. She noticed Stacie was smiling at her. "What?"

"You don't hate me." Stacie said teasingly.

Aubrey crossed her arms. "I do!"

The bell rang. "You totally don't." Stacie stood up and Aubrey unconsciously and almost imperceptibly tilted her head so Stacie could kiss her. Stacie noticed and hesitated for a moment before bending down and kissing her cheek softly. "See you in History."

* * *

"Beca!" Stacie yelled and ran at her, jumping on her back.

"Dude, get off me! You're going to kill me!" Beca lost her balance and they fell in the middle of the hallway. Beca was trapped under Stacie while she just lay there laughing. Beca squirmed trying to get out from under her. "You're really heavy, get off!"

Stacie jumped up and pulled Beca's hand to help her up. Beca dusted her uniform off while she glared at Stacie. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, it's Friday, I'm excited!" Stacie adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and followed Beca out. "What are we doing?"

"Umm I don't know, Chloe said she'd text me later to do something." Beca shrugged.

Stacie gasped and put her hand on her chest. "You're ditching me for Chloe already? You're not even dating yet!"

Beca rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm not ditching you. I guess you could come, it's not like a date date."

"No thanks, I'm not third wheeling you." They started walking back.

They lived in the same building. When Beca moved to New York the previous year, Stacie had gone over to check out the new neighbors immediately. They bonded right away when she saw Beca's studio. Her parents had divorced and she'd had to move to New York with her dad and his new wife, the deal was that she would go to school and then college and her dad would build her a state of the art recording studio in their apartment. Stacie thought it was the coolest thing ever and she had convinced Beca to let her record some songs that day. Beca had been surprised when Stacie had started singing, she had a really good voice. A fact she filed for later and had since made her record vocal tracks for some of her mixes.

Stacie then took her to her apartment to play guitar hero on her huge television. After laughing uncontrollably at Stacie's ridiculous fake guitar solos and at the way Beca jumped every time she got a note wrong, they became best friends.

Beca was thankful she had somewhere to escape to whenever her dad and the stepmonster got too annoying and Stacie liked having Beca around. She had never had a best friend, most people at school were either too stupid or too full of themselves, or Aubrey who hated her. Chloe was the closest thing to a friend she'd had but her being Aubrey's best friend limited their interaction a lot. Her world outside of school was too hectic to make friends.

She had started modelling for her mom a few years ago, after her big boob growth spurt between 8th and 9th grade, when her mom had needed someone to stand in for a model at a photoshoot. The photographer, and her mom, had immediately noticed her talent and she'd done a couple of shows and shoots since then. She didn't really like it but she liked spending time with her mom so she did it anyway. Most of the other models resented her because she had only gotten the job because of her mom, which was true but it wasn't really her fault. Others were nice, but only to get on her good side thinking it would advance their career. A few of them had even gone as far as trying to seduce her and, who was Stacie to deny a model?

A paparazzi found her making out with one of the models before a show and, as soon as Stace denied them having a relationship, her bad reputation started. Apparently other models, male and female, came out of the woodworks claiming they had been with Stacie. No one named anyone specific but the numbers were in the high 20s which was ridiculous; Stacie could count the people she had slept in one hand. Her mom had released a statement denying it but the damage was done. Everyone at school thought she slept around and she knew most people still talked about her behind her back. Only the fact that she was sort of famous prevented her from turning into a pariah at school but, aside from Chloe and now Beca, she didn't really trust anyone.

The elevator arrived to their floor and they stepped out. "Do you wanna come hang out until Chloe texts you?"

"Sure." Beca smiled. "I could tell her to bring Aubrey and we could all do something together."

"Why would I want to do something with her?" Stacie said frowning.

"Are you really going to deny it?" Beca raised her eyebrows.

"Deny what?" Beca tilted her head at Stacie's confused expression.

"You don't know?" Stacie shook her head. "You like her. You're like a kid pulling the braids of the girl she likes. Hell, you've been kissing her all week."

"To annoy her!" Stacie crossed her arms and walked to the kitchen grabbing a cookie jar from a shelf and putting some on a plate while Beca took out milk from the fridge and poured two glasses.

"Right, like you haven't been enjoying it." Beca said biting on a cookie with a smirk.

"I have not!" Stacie yelled taking the cookie plate from Beca and stomping away.

Beca rolled her eyes and followed her. "Fine, I won't tell Chloe to bring Aubrey then."

Stacie sat down in front of the television and frowned. "Thank you."

* * *

Stacie doodled on the corner of her notebook. It wasn't like her to not pay attention in class but she couldn't stop thinking about what Beca said last week. She didn't like Aubrey; she couldn't like Aubrey. They hated each other; they had always hated each other. She was a bitch, called her names, she suspected she had even tripped her once but there were too many people there for her to know for sure. And yes, maybe these past weeks they had sort of gotten along, and yes, maybe kissing her cheek every day for a week had been a bit too much, but that was only because they were making an effort for Chloe and Beca. They didn't actually like each other, it was more like the Christmas Truce of 1914 than Armistice Day.

Stacie had avoided them during lunch all week, telling Beca she had to study because she'd been busy with one of her mom's shows in the evenings. She needed time away from Aubrey to clear her head but it didn't seem to be working.

Stacie sighed and looked at the clock. They still had half an hour left in class. The teacher was walking around the room handing out a sheet. Stacie turned over the sheet and read it. There was a list of names of historical figures and a big 4A on the corner. "As I explained already, person A in your team has to pick a someone from the list and pretend to be this person while Person B interviews them. It has to be historically accurate; you can't ask John Adams what his favorite TV show is." Stacie looked around confused, thinking maybe she should have paid attention. "The number on your sheet is your team number, the letter is your role. You can use the time left in class to find your partner and start working out what you'll do."

Everyone stood up and started walking around the room. Stacie looked down at her sheet. She quickly read the instructions and then looked up, most people were paired up already. She looked around and saw Aubrey standing across the room by herself. Aubrey looked her way and quirked an eyebrow. Stacie held up four fingers. Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Miss Abernathy?"

"No, Aubrey, you can't change partners." The teacher responded without looking up.

"But-"

"No buts. And if you keep arguing your grade will start at B."

Aubrey huffed and walked up to Stacie, sitting down on the desk in front of her. "Looks like we're stuck together."

"Oh joy." Stacie responded dryly. Aubrey glared at her and Stacie sighed. "Look, we have to work together on this. Can't we just get along for a bit? We were doing a good enough job before."

"If you call disagreeing with everything I say getting along, then yes." Aubrey crossed her arms and straightened up.

"I don't disagree with everything you say" Aubrey raised her eyebrows. "Well I don't really, I just act like I do because you get so predictably mad." Stacie ran her hand through her hair. "Look, I promise to not actively try to annoy you if you promise to try to be nice."

Stacie held out her hand. Aubrey rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand. "Fine." They shook hands briefly. "So, who do you want to be?"

Stacie looked over the list biting her lip. "Andrew Jackson?"

"Really? Him?" Aubrey shook her head.

Stacie shrugged. "He had a fourteen hundred pound wheel of cheddar cheese at the White House once, I love cheese, and he had a parrot that cursed."

"He was also a murderer, a bigot, and he caused a financial crisis."

"Controversy is good for this." Stacie smiled biting her tongue.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Andrew Jackson then. Do you want to get together after school to work on this?"

Stacie twisted her lower lip. "I have a shoot. But I should be done relatively early, do you want to meet me there? We can go to starbucks or something afterwards."

Aubrey had to remind herself she had promised to try to be nice, and going to a photo shoot sounded not so bad. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Cool, I'll text you the address."

* * *

Benji opened the door in front of the large warehouse in Red Hook. "Are you sure this is the place, Miss Posen?"

"I'm sure, Benji. I'll call you if I need you to pick me up somewhere." Aubrey said stepping out of the car and tightening her coat strap. She walked inside and was surprised when no one stopped her. She stopped when she saw Stacie. She was wearing a dress inspired by a bullfighter's outfit. It had a wide red skirt she held up with one hand, and a tight black vest with an elaborate embroidered design. Her hair was pinned back in a sort of ponytail, her hair falling down her back in perfectly crafted curls. She was holding in her other hand one of the sticks bullfighters carry. She lifted the stick above her head, curving her back and lifting the skirt high.

The photographer said something and she turned. She spotted Aubrey and smiled slightly. She lowered the stick. "Can we take five?"

The photographer nodded and lowered the camera. Aubrey got closer and Stacie walked away from the lights. Aubrey gave a small gasp when Stacie stopped in front of her. The vest was really tight, pushing her breasts up. She was wearing dark red lipstick and dark eye makeup, accentuating the green in her eyes. Her throat felt suddenly dry. She swallowed and tried to keep her eyes on Stacie's face but that only made her heart beat faster.

"I'm almost done, I just need to take a couple of shots stabbing a melon. I don't know why, it's supposed to be some kind of metaphor." Stacie shrugged. "There's food and coffee over there if you want to grab something while you wait."

It took Aubrey a minute to remember how to form words. "Okay, I'll wait over there. You look…"

"Ugh, I know, this dress is so heavy and I can barely breathe. I can't wait to take it off." Stacie pulled at the top of the vest making Aubrey look down. She stopped breathing and bit her lip. "I should get back so we can go."

Aubrey nodded and watched her walk back in front of the camera. She took one last look at Stacie and sighed, turning to walk to the table where the food was. She grabbed a styrofoam cup and poured herself some coffee just to have something to occupy her hands. She tried to focus on the other people there, the people moving the lights, the photographer, the hair and makeup people, but her eyes always ended up on Stacie.

After a while, the photographer said he had all the shots he needed and Stacie went to the back to change. She came out a few minutes later wearing torn jeans and a t-shirt, her hair in a high ponytail, the curls still visible. She had tried to remove her makeup but her lips still had a hint of red lipstick and she was still wearing more eyeliner than usual. Aubrey didn't understand how she looked just as beautiful in jeans and a t-shirt as she did in a couture dress. Aubrey shook her head. Everyone with eyes could see Stacie was beautiful but she had never stopped to think about it before today.

Stacie stopped in front of her and put her hands in her back pockets. "Ready?"

Aubrey nodded and they walked out of the warehouse. Stacie's car was waiting outside. "There's a coffee shop in Williamsburg I really like, they have big tables we can work on and it's quiet enough, do you wanna go there?"

"Sure." Aubrey got in the car while Stacie told the driver where to drop them off.

Stacie got out when the car stopped and walked to the door of what looked like a shop but it didn't have a sign, she held the door open for Aubrey who looked at her before stepping through. It looked like a normal coffee shop, there was a bar by the back wall and heavy oak tables scattered around. The music wasn't too high and there were only a few patrons. "How did you find this place?"

"Beca brought me once to their open mic night, a friend of hers from LA was playing." Stacie walked up to the register and ordered. Aubrey ordered a tea and they sat down on one of the tables.

Aubrey took out her notebook and a pen. "What I was thinking is we can work the questions around the answers instead of the other way around, that way we can make it more interesting."

"That sounds good." She took some books out of her bag. "I checked out these books for research, and we can look online later if we still feel like we need more stuff."

Aubrey pulled one of the books closer and smiled. "Good."

They worked in silence for a couple of hours, taking down notes on what they found and occasionally discussing certain things. By the time they walked out of the coffee shop it was starting to get dark. Stacie started walking down the street and Aubrey followed. "Do you wanna take the subway?"

"The subway?" Aubrey asked confused.

Stacie stopped and looked at her tilting her head. "You've never been on the subway, have you?"

Aubrey crossed her arms and shrugged. "I've never had to, I have a driver."

"I have a driver too but haven't you ever gone anywhere by yourself?"

"I guess. I don't know. I walk." Aubrey looked down.

"Well, I'm taking you on the subway, come on." Stacie took her hand and started walking down the block. When Aubrey started to follow her Stacie looked back and smiled, lacing their fingers together. Aubrey's stomach flipped but was immediately distracted when Stacie started going down the steps to the subway. Stacie let go of her hand when they reached the bottom and Aubrey frowned slightly at the loss of contact.

Stacie reached into her back pocket and took out a small yellow card, showing it to Aubrey. "This is a MetroCard. You use them to pay for the subway. You get them from that machine but I have enough on this for both of us."

Stacie walked to the turnstiles. "You just slide it here and go." She went through and passed the card back to Aubrey who bit her lip before sliding the card just as Stacie did. She smiled at Stacie when she reached the other side and handed her card back. Stacie shook her head. "You can keep it. You never know when you'll need it."

Aubrey's smile widened. "Thanks."

Stacie took her hand again and tugged her to the map of the city. "Okay so this is fairly easy, we're here…" She pointed at a spot on the map. "And we're trying to get here." She pointed at a spot close to Aubrey's street. "So we need to change here and here."

Stacie looked at Aubrey and she nodded. She was a bit confused by all the different colored lines. She decided to take a look at a subway map when she got home but for now she would just let Stacie lead. Aubrey thought it was weird that she wasn't nervous about someone else taking the lead for once but, maybe it was the way Stacie was explaining everything, or the fact that she was still holding her hand, or how she gave her reassuring smiles once in awhile, but she felt like she could trust Stacie.

The stood by the edge of the platform, just behind the yellow line. "And now we wait."

"For how long?" Stacie shrugged. "How often do the trains come?"

Stacie shrugged again. "It depends."

"Depends on what?" Stacie shrugged and Aubrey frowned at her.

She was starting to regret this and started calculating how long it would take Benji to get here when she heard the train coming. The loud noise and the movement startled her and she squeezed Stacie's hand, pressing herself to her side. Stacie pulled her close and wrapped her free arm around her. "It's okay."

Aubrey waited for the train to stop moving to let go of Stacie and gave her an apologetic smile. Anyone else would have made fun of her but Stacie just smiled warmly.

Stacie pulled them down to the nearest door and leaned to talk into Aubrey's ear. "So this works like an elevator, you wait for people to get out and then you get in."

Aubrey nodded once and stepped aside when the doors opened. They got into the car and stepped in front of the opposite door. "Now hold on to the railing, there's a lot of movement."

"I'm not touching that!" Aubrey said alarmed.

"Well you better hang on to something, we're going to start moving soon."

The train started moving and Aubrey stumbled forward but managed to catch herself. She smiled smugly at Stacie but she was squeezing her hand tightly. The train shook again sending her forward. Her free hand landed on Stacie's stomach, the hand holding Stacie's moved behind her. "I'm just going to stay here for now."

Stacie chuckled and Aubrey felt the vibrations on her hand. "Okay."

Aubrey suddenly realized how close she was to Stacie. Her head was near her shoulder and she could smell her perfume. Every time the car jumped, her hand shifted slightly over Stacie's stomach. Aubrey closed her eyes and leaned closer. She felt Stacie shift to get a better grip on her and her heart skipped a beat.

"We're getting off at the next stop." Aubrey shivered when she felt Stacie's breath in her ear.

They got off and Stacie led her through the station. Aubrey tried to pay attention but she couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of Stacie so close to her and how she hadn't let go of her hand yet.

The next two trains were less crowded so they sat. Aubrey was a little disappointed but she smiled when Stacie leaned her head on her shoulder on their last train. Aubrey let her stay there for a bit and then shrugged her off. "You can't fall asleep, I don't know where we're going."

"It's the fifth stop, you won't miss it." Stacie mumbled on her shoulder.

"Stacie!" Aubrey pushed her off again.

Stacie sat up and pouted. "Okay! Then tell me something so I don't fall asleep."

"Something like what?" Aubrey moved their joined hands to her lap and started playing with Stacie's fingers.

"I don't know, like why you've never taken the subway." Stacie said looking at her.

Aubrey shrugged. "I told you, I've never had to."

"Yeah but don't you ever just want to go somewhere? Away from your parents and your drivers and everyone who knows you? Don't you get tired of always having to be this perfect girl who does everything she's told?" Stacie squeezed Aubrey's hand.

"I guess I'm just not as brave as you. My dad would flip if he knew I was doing this right now." Aubrey looked up at Stacie and chuckled mirthlessly.

"It's a good thing he won't know then." Stacie smiled at her.

Aubrey smiled back and got lost in Stacie's eyes again. She was bumped out of her reverie when the train stopped making her crash against the brunette. She straightened herself again and looked down at their hands. "What about you? Why are you running away?"

Stacie shrugged. "I love my parents, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel like I'm a huge disappointment. They're artists and aside from a little singing I'm really not a creative person. I like science and facts and I don't know… I started modeling to make my mom happy."

Aubrey squeezed her hand. "You don't like it?"

"I don't hate it but I don't really like doing it." Stacie looked up when she felt the train slowing down. "We're here."

They got off the train and Stacie walked Aubrey to her building. Stacie let go of her hand when they got to her block and Aubrey had to stop herself from reaching out again. She turned to Stacie when they got to her door. "So do you want to come here tomorrow to finish the project?"

"Sure." Stacie nodded and turned to walk down to her place.

"Stace?" Stacie turned back. "Thanks for making me try new things."

Stacie smiled widely. "Anytime." Aubrey smiled at her one last time and waved before turning around and walking into her building. Stacie looked up and sighed. "Anytime."


	3. Chapter 3

Beca waved her hand in front of Stacie's face. She had stopped responding a block away from their building. "Are you even listening to me?"

Stacie jumped and looked at her. "What? Sorry, I was thinking about something else."

"No shit. Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Beca raised her eyebrows. Stacie scrunched up her face. Beca rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't tell me. How did your afternoon with Bitchsen go?"

"Don't call her that." Stacie grumbled.

"Whoa! When did you start defending her?" Beca turned to face her while they waited for the light to change and gasped. "Is that who's distracting you? What happened yesterday?"

"Nothing. She met me at my shoot, we went to that cafe in Williamsburg to work, and then I took her home." The light changed and she crossed the street.

Beca stood there gaping for a second before she ran to catch up. "You took her to the place you go to when you want to get away from everyone?"

Stacie shrugged. "We were in Red Hook, it was the closest place I knew."

"Right." Beca narrowed her eyes. "And what do you mean you took her home? Doesn't she have a driver?"

"Yeah, we took the subway."

Beca started laughing. "Are you serious? I would've paid to see Aubrey riding the subway. Please tell me you saw a rat and she cried."

"Dude, don't be an ass." Stacie glared at her and sped up.

Beca rolled her eyes and had to run to keep up with Stacie. "Come on! You would've laughed at that last week." Stacie didn't slow down. "Fine, I'm sorry I made fun of your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Stacie smiled at the thought of Aubrey being her girlfriend.

Beca noticed and smirked. "But you're thinking about it." Stacie blushed and Beca laughed patting her back. "I'm glad you're not denying your feelings anymore, Stace."

"Fine." Stacie looked around, they were only a block away from school so there was a good chance someone would overhear. "I like Aubrey. But it doesn't matter, she still hates me."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

It was Stacie's turn to hurry up to catch up to Beca. "What do you mean?"

Beca shrugged. "Chloe said Aubrey told her she didn't think you were that bad." Stacie stopped and smiled. She thought about Aubrey holding onto her on the train and her heart sped up. "Dude, you're gonna be late!"

* * *

"Hey!" Stacie sat next to Aubrey. Aubrey smiled up at her before turning back to the notebook in front of her. Chloe and Beca exchanged a look but didn't say anything.

"Finishing homework during lunch, Posen?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

Aubrey chuckled. "I'm starting the calculus homework since you're coming over later and I don't know how much time I'll have for this."

"That's not due until Friday, you still have time."

"I know, but calculus isn't really my thing so I like starting early in case I have questions." Aubrey bit her lip and looked down at her notebook.

Stacie straddled the bench to face Aubrey. "I can help you if you want."

Aubrey looked at her and smiled. "Really?" Stacie nodded. "Can you look at my first question? I'm not sure my answer's right."

Stacie scooted forward and leaned over to look at Aubrey's notebook. Aubrey leaned back to let her through, holding herself up with a hand on Stacie's thigh. Stacie tried to keep her breathing normal and focus on the numbers on the paper. "You changed the sign here but everything else is right."

Aubrey moved forward letting go of her leg and looked at her notebook. "Oh yeah… Thanks, Stace." She smiled and turned to look at Stacie. Stacie's breath hitched in her throat when she realized how close their faces were. Her eyes moved to Aubrey's lips for a millisecond.

Beca coughed making Aubrey turn away. Stacie leaned back but kept looking at Aubrey. She noticed her cheeks had a slight red tint and her stomach flipped.

The bell rang and Stacie frowned. "Ugh I need to go to the library to return a book." She stood up and hesitated. She didn't know if she was pushing her luck but she bent down and kissed Aubrey's cheek. "Bye, guys."

Chloe and Beca looked at Aubrey questioningly. "What? You wanted us to get along, we're getting along."

* * *

"Do you want something to drink before we start?"

"I'm good." Aubrey led Stacie upstairs.

"Do you mind working in my room? It's more comfortable and we can focus better." She stood holding the doorknob hoping Stacie would say yes. She would usually work with people in the study downstairs but she wanted to be alone with her.

"Sure." Stacie smiled. Aubrey smiled back and opened the door.

Stacie stepped in and looked around. This was not how she imagined Aubrey's room would be like. The walls were white except for the one behind her queen sized bed, which had a flower patterned greyish brown wallpaper. There were a series of ballet themed prints hanging behind the bed. In front of the bed, there was a large mahogany desk and a bookshelf. Everything fit perfectly together, like one of those interior design magazines her dad had in his office. It was classy and perfect and it screamed Aubrey. Stacie walked up to look at the prints. "Do you dance?"

"I did. I don't really have time anymore with school and extracurriculars." Aubrey shrugged.

"Do you miss it?" Stacie turned to her. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to sit.

"Sometimes, I guess. It helped me relax." Aubrey noticed Stacie standing awkwardly in the middle of the room and motioned for her to sit on her bed. Aubrey sat on the chair in front of her desk leaning on the back to face Stacie.

Stacie pursed her lips. "What do you do to relax now?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Do I look relaxed?"

"You do, actually. At least you've looked more relaxed than usual this past week." Stacie wanted to think she had something to do with it but she was too afraid to ask directly.

Aubrey thought about it for a second. "I guess I have been less stressed. I don't really know why though."

Aubrey smirked at Stacie. They stayed in silence for a while, Stacie trying not to read too much into Aubrey's smile and Aubrey wondering why she spent so much time pushing Stacie away. Aubrey looked down. "We should probably start."

Stacie nodded and kicked off her shoes. She grabbed her notebook and lay on her stomach on Aubrey's bed. After a while, Aubrey joined Stacie on the bed. She sat with her back on the headboard and her computer on her lap, her feet brushing Stacie's hip.

They were putting the finishing editing touches to their project when there was a knock on Aubrey's door. Aubrey told whoever it was to come in and her mom entered the room. "Hey mom."

Stacie jumped to her feet and stretched her hand out to Aubrey's mom. "Mrs. Posen, it's really nice to meet you. I'm Stacie."

Aubrey's mom smiled at her. "It's really nice to meet you too, Stacie. I was just coming over to ask if you wanted to stay for dinner."

"I'm sure Stacie has better things to do." Aubrey said curtly.

"I'd love to stay." Stacie beamed at Aubrey's mom who smiled back.

"Perfect! I'll get another place set." She walked to the door. "I'll see you girls in a bit."

Aubrey frowned. "You don't have to stay for dinner."

Stacie's heart dropped when she saw Aubrey's face. "You don't want me to stay?"

"No, it's not that." Aubrey sighed and gave her a small smile. "It's just that dinners here aren't exactly fun. My parents are really strict and not entirely pleasant company."

"Your mom seemed okay." Aubrey shrugged. Stacie sat on the bed next to her and took her hand. "If you don't want me to stay I can go, I'll tell your mom my parents called me or something."

"No, it's okay. Stay." Aubrey squeezed her hand.

"Are you sure?" Aubrey nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna go wash my hands then." Stacie pressed a kiss to Aubrey's cheek and squeezed her hand before standing up and walking into the bathroom.

Aubrey touched her cheek where Stacie kissed her and smiled. It was the first time Stacie had kissed her outside of the cafeteria and it felt different. Most of the other times, Aubrey knew she was just doing it to annoy her. It was a quick, loud smack. The last couple of times, Stacie's lips had lingered longer on her cheek. Aubrey had dismissed it as Stacie just being distracted, but she couldn't use that excuse this time. She had been looking at Stacie and saw the moment she decided to do it, she felt her hesitate just before her lips touched her skin, and felt her lips linger there. Aubrey had stopped breathing and she felt her heart hammering in her chest.

Stacie came out of the bathroom and smiled at her. "Ready?" Aubrey nodded.

Dinner started well enough. Stacie asked Aubrey what her parents did on their way down. As soon as introductions were made, she asked her dad about the upcoming Ferrari IPO, apparently she read the Wall Street Journal, and he'd talked all the way through the first course. Her mom had made him stop when the chicken arrived and they moved on to school. Aubrey told them about the project they'd been working on and other school stuff. The dessert arrived and Aubrey caught herself smiling at something Stacie said. She didn't remember the last time she had smiled during dinner.

"So, Aubrey, when is that math tournament you tried out for?" Aubrey whipped her head around to look at her dad.

Stacie smiled. "I didn't know you were in that too!"

Aubrey looked down at her plate and pushed her ice cream around. "I'm not, I… I didn't get in."

"Oh." Her father frowned. "Well, Stacie, congratulations."

"Thank you." Stacie answered halfheartedly. She looked over at Aubrey, she was still looking down at her plate. Stacie reached out and took Aubrey's hand under the table, squeezing it.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make." Stacie let go of Aubrey's hand and stood up to shake her dad's hand. "It was lovely to meet you Stacie, I'm sure your parents are really proud of you."

Stacie nodded. Aubrey's mom excused herself too and left them alone. Stacie sat down and took Aubrey's hand again. "Bree, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay, Stacie, it's not your fault." Aubrey shook her head and pulled her hand away from Stacie's standing up. "You should go home, I need to work on my calculus homework."

"Oh, yeah. I should get on that too." They walked in silence to Aubrey's room so Stacie could get her things. Stacie felt her chest tighten when she remembered they had been joking around there just a while ago.

Aubrey walked her to the elevator and waited with her. Stacie stepped up to Aubrey and considered taking her hand again but she didn't want Aubrey to think she felt sorry for her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Aubrey nodded. The elevator dinged and Stacie was about to lean forward and kiss Aubrey goodbye but she took a step back, crossing her arms across her chest, as if she knew Stacie was going to do that. "Goodbye, Stacie."

* * *

Stacie spotted Aubrey by her locker and she hurried to her. "Hey."

Aubrey looked up at her briefly before looking back into her locker. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

Stacie was taken aback by Aubrey's response. "No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" The bell rang and Aubrey closed her locker. She started to walk to her first class and Stacie fell into step beside her. "Why are you following me?"

Stacie exhaled loudly. "We have the same classes, Aubrey, I need to get to the classroom too."

"Oh, right…" Aubrey walked a little faster.

Stacie reached out and tugged her forearm. "Aubrey, wait."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. She had stopped and turned but she was looking everywhere but at Stacie's eyes. "Stacie, we have class, can this wait?"

"No, it can't! Can you please talk to me? I thought we were friends."

"I'm sorry I did anything that could have led you to that conclusion, Stacie, but we've never been friends. We were working on a project together; it's done, we can go back to the way things were now." Stacie opened her mouth, she could feel tears stinging in her eyes and she swallowed to keep them at bay. She dropped her hand from Aubrey's arm. As soon as she removed her hand, Aubrey turned and walked away.

Aubrey rushed from class to class, managing to avoid Stacie even though they had all of the day's classes together. Stacie figured she'd have a chance to talk to her during lunch but Aubrey sat with her friends from the debate team instead of with them. Stacie sighed and picked at her food. She looked so sad it was bringing Chloe and Beca down too.

"Dude, come on, it couldn't have been that bad." Beca poked Stacie and she barely looked up.

"You don't know Bree's dad, Becs." Chloe moved to sit next to Stacie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Stace, it's going to be okay."

Stacie shook her head. "She hates me again."

Chloe rubbed her arm. "She doesn't hate you, she's just hurt. She needs time."

"Time for what? Stacie didn't do anything, she's insane." Both Chloe and Stacie glared at her. "What? She is! Stacie shouldn't suffer because of her daddy issues. I say good riddance."

"Beca, you're not helping." Chloe said through gritted teeth. She squeezed Stacie. "I'll talk to her, maybe she'll listen to me."

"Thanks, Chlo, but I think you should leave it alone. I doubt there's anything you can do." She dropped her fork on her uneaten lunch and stood up. "I need to be... somewhere else. I'll see you later."

"What are we going to do?" Beca frowned and looked at Stacie leaving the cafeteria. "I've never seen her like this."

"I don't know." Chloe sighed and shook her head. "You try to cheer her up and I'll talk to Aubrey."

* * *

 **A/N: This is shorter than the other chapters but ACamp-toner said I should stop there so if you wanna yell at someone, yell at her.**


	4. Chapter 4

Aubrey dropped her head with a groan. She had been trying to finish her calculus homework but she couldn't focus. She had bumped into Stacie on her way out of school and her dejected look had almost made her take back what she said in the morning. Almost. She knew she was being unfair to Stacie, she hadn't really done anything, but last night had reminded her of why she had resented her all those years. It wasn't because she thought Stacie was better than her, she knew she was good, but everytime Stacie won, she lost. Losing wasn't really the problem, she could handle losing, she didn't like it but she could handle it. What she couldn't handle was her dad's disappointment.

She knew she shouldn't care so much about what her dad thought but she did. And the fact that it all had happened in front of Stacie, that she had seen her crack like that, it was something Aubrey shouldn't have let happen. The only person who knew her that well was Chloe. She had let Stacie get too close too fast. She had broken down her perfectly crafted bitch facade with her kisses and her eyes, taking her on the subway and holding her hand. Aubrey hadn't noticed how far she'd let her in until last night and it scared her. And maybe if Stacie hadn't been asking all those questions this morning, she would've gotten over it, but she kept reminding her of what happened and she needed to get away.

She picked her head up from her desk and put her pencil down. She decided to go down to the kitchen to find out if there was still some of that ice cream from last night left. She was going down the stairs when she heard the elevator. It was too early for either of her parents to be back so she waited in the hall to see who it was. Chloe came out and half smiled at her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"We need to talk." Chloe said seriously.

Aubrey frowned and motioned Chloe to go into the kitchen with her. "I was just going to get some ice cream, you want some?"

"Oooh, what kind?" Chloe smiled and then caught herself. "Wait, no! No ice cream, I'm not happy with you!"

Aubrey scooped some ice cream into a bowl and shrugged. "It's your loss."

Chloe bit her lip thoughtfully. "Okay, maybe a little ice cream."

Aubrey smirked and scooped some more into another bowl, handing it to Chloe. "Do you wanna go to my room?"

Chloe nodded and followed Aubrey up the stairs. She took off her shoes and sat crossed legged on Aubrey's bed with her back on the headboard. Aubrey sat beside her with her legs stretched out. They ate their ice cream in silence for a bit. Aubrey dropped the spoon, rested her bowl on her lap and sighed. "I know what you're going to say." Chloe looked at her skeptically. "That I should talk to Stacie, but I don't want to so you're wasting your time."

"That's not what I was going to say." Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at her. "Well, not just that, I was also going to say that you're an idiot."

Aubrey gasped. "What?"

"Bree, Stacie cares about you! And, regardless of whether you want to admit it or not, you care about her too. She challenges you and pushes back and you love that. You've smiled more this week than any other week ever." Aubrey opened her mouth but Chloe cut her off. "Even more than when we went to Disney World. She makes you happy, why would you push her away?"

"I don't know, Chloe! I just know that I need to take a break from her. I need some time to think." Aubrey looked down at her lap to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. She had avoided thinking about how Stacie made her feel but Chloe was right, she'd had more fun bantering with Stacie and riding on the subway with her than she'd had in a really long time. She made her stop thinking about being perfect and just let her be herself.

"Okay, I won't push it then." Chloe continued eating her ice cream. "Just don't expect her to be there when you finally decide you want her, you really hurt her today."

"I didn't mean to hurt her, I just needed her to back off." Aubrey put her bowl on her bedside table and folded her legs, hugging her knees to her chest.

"I know, Bree. But from what she told me, she was just trying to reach out and make sure you were okay. She doesn't know you well enough to know which things are okay to push you about and which are off limits, like your dad." Aubrey nodded and wiped her cheek on her arm. Chloe wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

They stayed there until Aubrey stopped crying. Chloe didn't say anything else, she knew that Aubrey needed to think things by herself before deciding what she wanted to do about Stacie. She just hoped she made the right choice. Aubrey wiped her face one last time and sat up. "I need to finish my calculus homework."

Chloe smiled at her. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. And if you need anything…"

"I know. Thanks, Chlo."

* * *

Beca peeked into Stacie's room. The curtains were drawn and she was blasting Bayside. Beca shook her head and walked inside, Stacie was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. Beca turned the volume down before kneeling on the bed next to Stacie. "Hey."

"Hey." Stacie didn't turn to look at her.

"Listen, I love the whole teenage angsty thing you've got going on here, but do you wanna go out and do something?" Beca asked hopefully. Stacie shook her head. "Come on, Stace, there are better ways of coping with your crazy girlfriend's mood swings."

"She's not my girlfriend. We were never even friends apparently." Stacie said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, I won't say the g word again." She held up her hands. "We can go to the batting cages. You can hit things and wear a cool helmet. I'll buy you a sundae afterwards."

"Serendipity?" Stacie said looking at her for the first time.

"Of course." Beca smiled at her and stood up. She held out her hand and pulled Stacie out of bed.

Beca's driver took them to the batting cages. Beca paid for Stacie's tokens and waited for one of the cages to free up. Stacie kicked her bat nervously until it was their turn. Beca stood outside behind the fence and gave her a small smile and a thumbs up as she stepped up to the plate. Stacie hit the first ball. The feeling of the bat connecting with the ball making her feel a little bit better. She hit the next ball a little bit harder, focusing on the dull metallic sound and the slight sting on her wrists. She missed a couple of balls but she hit most of them. She stood there panting, her shoulders felt a little bit sore and she could feel a pressure in her chest.

Beca opened the cage door and stood next to her. "Feel better?" Stacie nodded. "Wanna go again?"

Stacie shook her head. "Can we just go get that sundae?"

Beca nodded and took Stacie's bat and helmet and returned them. Beca texted her driver and he picked them up and drove them to Serendipity for Stacie's sundae.

Beca waited until Stacie was eating. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Stacie shook her head and continued to slowly eat her sundae. After a couple of spoonfuls she started talking. "I just don't understand what happened. I thought we had something, maybe I imagined it. Maybe she never really liked me and she was just pretending because she had to work with me. Maybe she wanted me to think we had something so she could crush me."

"I don't think she was pretending, Stace, but-" Beca ran her hand through her hair. "-Chloe's gonna kill me for this- maybe you're better off. I mean, she's not a particularly nice person, do you really want to be with someone like that?"

"You don't know her." Stacie didn't know why she was still defending Aubrey after what she did today.

"And you do? Stace, you couldn't stand her less than a month ago, how well do you really know her?" Stacie shrugged. "I know you think you have this deep connection with her, but maybe it's good this happened now before you were more invested."

"Maybe." Stacie stabbed her ice cream with her spoon a couple of times. "I'm not sure I'm ready to see it that way."

"I know." Beca grabbed a spoon and stole some of her ice cream. "You're lucky you have me to distract you until then."

Stacie batted Beca's spoon away and chuckled. "Thanks Becs."

* * *

The next day at school, Aubrey and Stacie fell back into their avoidance routine. Hating each other for so long made it easy, even if they were in the same classes. They sat at opposite ends of the classroom, Aubrey always arrived early and left as soon as the bell rang, Stacie took her time. Since their lockers were in different hallways, there was little chance they met walking around the school. During lunch, Aubrey and Chloe sat at their old table. Chloe and Beca exchanged worried looks but there was nothing else they could do for now. Beca hadn't mentioned her talk with Stacie for fear Chloe would get mad at her, their relationship was still too new, but she knew she would have to soon.

Stacie fiddled with her food and avoided eye contact with everyone, she didn't want to risk looking up and seeing Aubrey. Maybe if she pretended she didn't exist she would forget she did. She didn't understand how normal could feel so wrong. Nothing had really changed from a month prior, the only difference was that now she knew what Aubrey was really like. She wished she could erase these past few weeks and go back to the time when she was happily unaware of the beautiful complexity of Aubrey Posen.

On the other side of the cafeteria, Aubrey couldn't keep her eyes off Stacie. She had spent enough time hating her to know she didn't feel that way anymore. Seeing her like this, and knowing she was the cause of it, broke her heart. Stacie was a happy person. Even when the school was buzzing with rumors about her, she had always had a smile on her face. Aubrey bit her lip. "Stop staring and just go over there already."

Aubrey looked up at Chloe glaring at her. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"I don't understand you. You clearly care about her, you look like someone kicked your puppy, except she's the kicked puppy and you're the kicker." Stacie was Chloe's friend too and Aubrey was being ridiculous. They could all be having lunch together, but she had to be here with Aubrey, who also looked like she'd rather be on the other side of the cafeteria. "Stop kicking your puppy, Aubrey!"

Some kids from the table behind them looked at them angrily. Aubrey blushed. "I don't have a puppy, it's a metaphor." Aubrey leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Can you stop yelling?"

Chloe rolled her eyes but lowered her voice too. "Can you stop acting like you don't have feelings for Stacie?"

Aubrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't have feelings for her."

"Why not? Because she's a girl? Aubrey, it's okay if you're gay. I mean, your dad might have a hard time getting used to the idea but I don't think he'll make a big deal. His assistant is gayer than skittles." Chloe chuckled at her own joke.

"No, it's not that." Aubrey looked down at her food.

"Then what?" Chloe took Aubrey's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Aubrey sighed. "She's too good for me."

"Aubrey, that's ridiculous, you're great."

Aubrey shook her head. "She's kind and smart and gorgeous. She has a million people fawning over her, why would she pick me? I'm a mess most of the time and a bitch the rest. I practically kicked her out of my house and the first thing she did in the morning was ask me how I was. And what did I do? I acted like a total jerk. I wouldn't blame her if she hated me."

"But she doesn't. Look at her. Do you think she'd look that sad if she didn't care about you, or if she hated you? She wants you." Aubrey shook her head. "I don't understand how you can see her like that and not do anything."

"It's not that easy, Chloe." Aubrey looked up at her, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"It is." Chloe stood up and took her tray. "I'm not hungry anymore."

* * *

"Chlo." Beca whispered in the back of the room. "Chloe!" Chloe turned and smiled at her raising her eyebrows. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Becs?" Beca knew the middle of lit class was probably not the right time to tell Chloe that her way of cheering Stacie up included telling her that she was better off without Aubrey, but she hoped doing it here would result in less yelling. Besides, they read Romeo & Juliet last year so they weren't actually missing anything.

"Umm so yesterday after the batting cages I talked to Stacie." Chloe nodded facing the front. "And well she was sad, you saw her, so I thought that the best way to cheer her up was to tell her that maybe she should just get over Aubrey."

"You what?" Chloe turned to her.

"Miss Beale, is there a problem?" The teacher asked glaring at them.

"No, sir, I'm sorry." Chloe straightened up and waited for the teacher to turn around. "We will talk about this later."

Beca nodded and looked down at her notebook. She didn't look up for the rest of the class. When the bell rang she got her things and waited next to Chloe. She finished gathering her things and walked out of the classroom together. "Why would you do that?"

It was their last class so Beca walked Chloe to her locker so they could leave together. "I didn't know what else to do! She looked so sad, and you know I'm not the best with feelings, so I thought that would be the most practical solution."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Well it doesn't look like it worked so it doesn't matter."

"What didn't work?" They turned around wide eyed to find Aubrey standing behind them. They had gotten to Chloe's locker and Aubrey's was right next to it.

"Beca put salt in our lit teacher's coffee, as a prank, but he drank it all so it didn't work." Chloe said nodding.

"Yeah, maybe it was sugar. It happened really fast." Beca said scratching the back of her neck.

"Okay…" Aubrey quirked an eyebrow and turned to open her locker. "Chlo, do you wanna come watch a movie later?" She looked at Beca. "You can come too if you want."

"Oh, we kinda have plans already. Sorry, Bree." Chloe smiled at her.

"It's okay, I have homework anyway, I don't know what I was thinking." Aubrey said trying to smile.

"I'll check in on you after." Chloe said squeezing her shoulder and walking away with Beca.

"Sure." Aubrey closed her locker and walked out. She usually walked back to her apartment after school but she didn't want to go home yet. She texted her mom that she was going to Chloe's and that her driver would drop her off later and walked to the subway. She stood in front of the steps and looked at the MetroCard in her hand. It was the one Stacie gave her. She had gotten home and downloaded a map of the subway to retrace their route and she was fairly confident she could get to where she wanted to get without any problems. She frowned, she was breaking a bunch of rules by doing this but she needed to get away. She found it ironic that the person who had given her this little bit of freedom was the person she was running away from. She clutched the card and walked down the steps.

Aubrey tried to remember everything Stacie had told her about the subway. She stood on the platform and waited for the train. "Just like an elevator." She looked down the tunnel nervously. "It's just like an elevator."

The train arrived and she went in. Thankfully, it wasn't rush hour yet so she found a place to sit. She focused on counting the stops to keep herself from thinking about Stacie but every time the train jolted she closed her hand, expecting her hand to be there to keep her steady. She got off the train and stood on the platform for a minute getting her bearings. She changed trains without an issue and almost smiled, but it made her think about Stacie again.

She got off the train and walked up to the street. Everything looked vaguely familiar but she wasn't completely sure where she had to go next. She remembered it wasn't a long walk but she hadn't been paying much attention. She decided to go once around the block, and if she didn't find the place she'd go home. She found the unmarked door on the second block and smiled. She didn't know why she'd decided to come here, but it was one of the first places she'd really felt her connection with Stacie, maybe it would help push her in the right direction. She ordered a cup of coffee and sat in one of the couches. She took out a book from her backpack and started reading, tuning out from the rest of the world.

* * *

Stacie almost crashed with Beca when she exited her apartment. "Hey, Stace, I was just coming over to find you. Chloe's here and she wanted me to show her how I mix a song but I need some backup vocals, could you help?"

Stacie rolled her eyes smiling. "I know you're just trying to distract me, and I appreciate it, but I'm good. I was just going out, I need to be alone for a bit."

Beca nodded. "Okay, I get it. Well text me if you change your mind, we'll be here."

"Sure." Stacie smiled and went out. She went down to the subway and remembered she needed to get a new MetroCard. She didn't know why she gave hers to Aubrey, the chances of her using it were slim to none. She got on the train, it was pretty crowded but she stood in the corner next to the doors and turned her music up, drowning out the world.

She hurried up the steps and out into the street. The sun was still out but the air was chilly. She buried her hands in the pocket of her hoodie and walked down the street. She looked at the door of the coffee shop and smiled. She had always felt safe here for some reason. Whenever she needed to get away she would come here, drink some coffee, maybe read a book, or just sit and watch the people who came in and out.

She pushed the door open and froze when she saw her. She could only see the back of her head and part of her leg but she was still in her uniform. She thought about walking back out but this was her place, she had no right to be here. She walked to where she was sitting. "What are you doing here? You can't be here."

Aubrey whipped her head around when she heard Stacie's voice. "Stacie? Why are you here?"

"This is my place!" Stacie pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know what? It doesn't matter, I'm leaving."

Stacie turned and walked out. Aubrey hurried to gather her things and run after Stacie. She caught up to her at the corner. "Stacie, wait!"

Stacie turned around throwing her arms up. "What, Aubrey? What do you want? Are you gonna yell at me again? Or maybe you wanna make a snarky comment about how easy I am."

"I want to apologize!" Stacie's brow furrowed. "I didn't mean what I said. I wanted you to leave me alone so I said the worst thing I could think of. I'm sorry." Aubrey got close to Stacie. "I don't expect you to forgive me, I know I've been a bitch more often than not, I just wanted to tell you that I didn't mean to hurt you."

Aubrey looked at Stacie and waited. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Stacie closed her eyes and lowered her head. Aubrey exhaled and shook her head. "Okay… I'll leave."

"Wait." Stacie's voice sounded hoarse. Aubrey turned around. "What do you want?"

"I…" Aubrey shook her head confused.

"Say I forgive you, then what? Because I think you were right, we've never been friends, not really." Stacie held her elbow and looked down.

"We can try being friends, I don't know! You don't want to be friends?" Aubrey felt tears coming but she managed to keep them back.

"No, I don't want to be your friend, Aubrey, I want to go out with you." Stacie looked up slowly

Aubrey's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. "You want to go out with me? Like on dates?"

Stacie ran her hand along the back of her neck. "I mean, if you want. We can just be friends."

"I don't want to be your friend!" Aubrey took Stacie's hand. "I just don't understand why you'd want to go out with me."

Stacie smiled and took a step closer. "Because I like you, I like you a lot and I want to spend time with you." She turned her hand and laced their fingers. "I want to hold your hand, I want to know everything about you, I want to kiss you." Aubrey bit her lip and blushed. "Would you like that?" Aubrey nodded. Stacie smiled widely for the first time in over two days. "Good."

* * *

 **A/N: This is the end! I want to thank ACamp-toner for all her comments and support and general awesomeness and for letting me use her gay as skittles phrase. There's going to be an epilogue because they never kissed and I can't write a fic where they don't kiss, that's ridiculous. Thanks everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, read, you're all awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know I said the last chapter was the end but ACamp-toner made me write this and post it so next chapter is the epilogue for real this time.**

* * *

Stacie fidgeted in front of Aubrey. "Can I take you home?"

"Don't you wanna go back to the coffee shop?" Aubrey tugged Stacie's hand in hers smiling up at her.

Stacie shook her head. "That's the place where I get away from everyone. I don't need to get away anymore."

Aubrey chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You're so cheesy."

Stacie leaned forward. "You love it."

Aubrey held her breath and looked at Stacie's lips. She kissed Stacie's cheek and took a step back. "Take me home then."

Stacie bit her lip and started walking to the subway. Aubrey smiled as they got closer. "I took the subway here by myself!" Stacie matched her smile. "I like it better when you're there though."

"Who's the cheesy one now?" Stacie stuck her tongue out.

"I wasn't being cheesy! You're cleaner than the railings, I prefer holding on to you." Aubrey said chuckling and letting go of Stacie's hand to go through the turnstiles.

Stacie took her hand again as soon as they were both on the other side. "Well you've been holding my hand for a while now and I took the subway here too."

"Stacie!" Aubrey tried to let go of Stacie's hand but Stacie tightened her fingers around it laughing.

"I'm clean! I have hand sanitizer. Stop pulling my hand!" Stacie turned Aubrey around and wrapped her arms around her without letting go of her hand, pulling her close. "I forgot to tell you a very important rule: no playing on the subway platform."

Aubrey's breath hitched in her throat when she felt Stacie's breath on her ear. "That's a good rule."

"Are you going to behave now?" Aubrey nodded. "Can I let you go?"

Aubrey shook her head. "I like it."

Stacie's arms tightened around her waist and she kissed her cheek. "I like it too."

Stacie kissed her again before letting her go when the train arrived. They got on and Stacie stood even though there were empty seats. She grabbed the railing with one hand and pulled Aubrey close with her other arm. Aubrey wrapped her arms around Stacie's waist. "Yup, this is definitely better."

When they got back to the Upper East Side, Stacie started walking to Aubrey's building but Aubrey stopped her. "Oh, you're really taking me home."

Stacie looked down at her feet. "Yeah, I still haven't started my calculus homework. I was gonna do it at the coffee shop."

"What have you been doing these past two days?" Aubrey frowned.

Stacie shrugged. "Moping."

Aubrey hugged Stacie. "I'm sorry."

Stacie squeezed her. "I know. But I have to finish that for tomorrow so, unless you want our first date to be watching me work on that, I'm taking you home."

Aubrey sighed and let her go. "Well, as nice as watching you doing anything is, I'll probably just distract you."

"Have you been watching me doing things?" Stacie narrowed her eyes teasingly.

"No, I mean, I disliked you but I still had eyes, you're nice to look at." Aubrey looked at Stacie and blushed lightly.

Stacie gasped. "So all those glares were actually you checking me out? Aubrey Posen, you dirty bird."

Aubrey slapped her shoulder lightly. "Some were actual glares!"

Stacie chuckled. "I've always thought you're pretty hot too. Last year when we had PE together was the hardest thing ever."

Aubrey blushed further. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You hated me, I wasn't going to risk getting slapped."

"I wouldn't have slapped you!" Stacie quirked an eyebrow at her. "Okay, maybe I would have. But only because I would've thought you were messing with me."

They got to Aubrey's building and stopped in front of it. "So, do you want to do something tomorrow after school?"

"Something like a date?" Stacie nodded. "I'd love to."

Stacie leaned down and stopped just before reaching Aubrey's lips, letting her decide if she wanted to kiss her. Aubrey looked down at Stacie's lips then back at her eyes. She kissed her cheek, her lips grazing the corner of her mouth. "Date first."

Stacie smiled and let Aubrey go. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." Aubrey smirked and walked into her building.

* * *

Stacie leaned on the locker next to Aubrey's with a goofy grin. "Hey."

Aubrey looked at her and smiled biting her lip. "Hey." Aubrey took Stacie's hand and laced their fingers. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Yup." Stacie looked behind Aubrey and rolled her eyes. "Chloe, stop being a creeper."

"I wasn't! I'm just glad you two talked and are now here together holding hands and…" She squealed and hugged them. "We can double date now!"

"Oh no, I'm not going out with you and the hobbit." Aubrey shook her head.

"Hey!" Both Chloe and Stacie frowned at her.

"There's two of you now." Aubrey sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry. We'll discuss double dates after Stacie takes me out on a real date first."

They started walking to their first class. "Oh so the subway yesterday doesn't count?"

Aubrey looked at her like she had grown an extra head. "I refuse to say our first date was a subway ride."

Stacie sighed dramatically. "Fine, it's good I have an awesome plan for today then."

"Oooh what is it?"

Stacie chuckled. "It's a surprise."

"But-"

Stacie shook her head. "Nope, you have to wait."

Aubrey frowned and huffed. When they got to their classroom Aubrey turned to look at Stacie. "Are you sitting with me."

"I don't think my GPA can take that." Stacie lifted their hands and kissed Aubrey's knuckles before letting go of her hand. "See you in a bit."

* * *

Beca gasped when Aubrey and Stacie sat at their table. "I thought someone had sewn your hands together! How did you get out of it?"

Stacie glared at her. "Very funny, hobbit."

"Hey!" Beca pointed her fork at Aubrey and narrowed her eyes. "You did this."

Aubrey chuckled and raised her hands. "I did nothing."

"Yeah, right. I only forgive you because she's been grinning like a loon since yesterday." Stacie kicked her under the table making her wince. "What? You have. She can see it, you know?"

Aubrey grabbed Stacie's hand and rubbed her thumb on the back of it. "I can see it. You look cute."

Stacie blushed lightly. "Dude, you made her blush."

"Shut up, Beca!" Beca moved her legs up so Stacie couldn't kick her anymore.

"Why are your legs on my seat?" Chloe dropped her tray on the table.

"Because Stacie is trying to hurt me." Stacie stuck her tongue out at her and Beca made a face back.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, how did we end up dating ten year olds?"

Chloe chuckled and shook her head. "I don't know."

"At least I don't look like an actual ten year old." Stacie grinned at Beca.

"Ouch." Beca frowned.

"Okay, stop fighting." Chloe hugged Beca and kissed her cheek. "You're the cutest ten year old, Becs."

"Why is everyone attacking me today?" Beca said almost pouting.

"Alright, I have to go take care of some things for my hot date later. See you later." She stood up but turned when she felt Aubrey was still holding her hand. Aubrey raised her eyebrows at her. Stacie looked confused for a bit before smiling and leaning down to kiss Aubrey's cheek. "Sorry. See you in class."

* * *

Aubrey waited for Stacie in the living room. She stood up as soon as she heard the elevator. Stacie walked in and smiled. She was wearing jeans and leather jacket over a sleeveless loose gray top. Aubrey pulled at her yellow twill coat. She was wearing black jeans and a light black shirt under her coat. The only thing Stacie had told her is that they were going to be outside. Stacie took her hand. "You look beautiful."

Aubrey looked at Stacie's eyes and her heart swelled when she noticed the sincerity in them. "You look amazing."

Stacie kissed her cheek and led her downstairs to where her driver was waiting. "No subway today?"

Stacie shook her head. "We're making two stops so it's easier taking the car."

"Oh? Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Stacie chuckled and kissed Aubrey's cheek. "You'll see in a bit."

They started crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and Aubrey turned to Stacie. "Why are you always taking me out of Manhattan?"

Stacie laughed. "You seem like one of those people who don't do it very often and you said you wanted to try new things."

Stacie leaned closer to her and Aubrey placed a finger on her lips. "Date first."

Stacie kissed Aubrey's finger. "Okay." She sat back and took Aubrey's hand.

The driver dropped them off by the river under the bridge. "What are we doing here?"

"I thought we could go on the carousel." Stacie pointed to the other side of the park where the restored 1920s carousel stood.

Stacie bought two tickets and they waited in line to get on. Aubrey bounced excitedly. "I haven't been on a carousel in forever. Chloe and I used to go to the one in Central Park all the time. There was this one horse we both loved so we used to race each other to it. They all look the same now but for some reason we always wanted to ride that one."

Stacie smiled. "Well you can pick which horse you want first."

When they got on the carousel, Aubrey pulled her around for a bit until she stopped in between two horses. "These ones."

"Are you sure?" Aubrey nodded.

They got on the horses. Stacie started swinging her feet impatiently. "When is this going to move?"

Aubrey chuckled. "They're waiting for everyone to get on." Stacie groaned and leaned her shoulder on the pole. "Are you always this impatient?"

"No, but we're on a time sensitive schedule here." Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at her but the carousel started moving so she didn't ask.

They got off the carousel with big smiles. "Where to now, miss time sensitive schedule?"

Stacie smiled and led her under the bridge to the other side. "Do you want ice cream?"

"But we haven't had dinner yet."

"You're right, that is a problem." Stacie pursed her lips and tapped her chin. "What will we do?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Shut up and buy me ice cream."

"Hey, I know it's not easy for you to break the rules so if you don't want ice cream it's okay." Stacie squeezed her hand.

"No, I do want ice cream." Aubrey pulled her to the former fireboat house that housed the ice cream place.

They kept walking next to the river while they ate their ice cream. "Not that I'm complaining, but why were you in such a hurry if we're just walking around eating ice cream."

"Because…" Stacie pulled her to the railing overlooking the river. "I wanted to watch the sunset with you."

Stacie managed to wrap her arms around Aubrey from behind without smearing ice cream on either of them and looked over her shoulder. "This is my favorite place to watch the city."

Aubrey turned and kissed her cheek. "It's beautiful."

Stacie let go of Aubrey so they could finish eating their ice cream while they watched the sunset in silence. Aubrey finished hers first and wrapped her arms around Stacie's waist. She looked at her tongue licking some ice cream from her lips and she stopped breathing. "Stace." Her voice barely above a whisper. Stacie turned to face her. "I want to kiss you."

Stacie swallowed. "The date isn't over yet."

"I don't care. You make me want to break the rules."

Stacie nodded and leaned down, stopping again just before Aubrey's lips and leaving her the choice to move away. Aubrey closed the distance between her lips, pressing hers softly against Stacie's. She pulled back and looked into Stacie's eyes before moving to kiss her again and again. Stacie dropped what was left of her ice cream and turned to place her hands on Aubrey's back and pull her closer. Aubrey reached up and ran her fingers down Stacie's neck. Aubrey's tongue darted out tentatively and traced Stacie's bottom lip. Stacie gasped and Aubrey's tongue moved inside. Stacie couldn't hold back anymore and kissed her back forcefully. After a while they parted gasping for breath. Stacie rested her forehead on Aubrey's, keeping her eyes closed. Aubrey pecked her lips a few more times before resting her head on Stacie's shoulder. Stacie kissed her cheek and her jaw. "You're missing the sunset."

Aubrey turned her head slightly and kissed Stacie's neck. "I don't want to move."

"Just turn around." Aubrey exhaled against Stacie's neck and turned in her arms.

They stayed there until the sun was down, looking at the lights turn on in the buildings across the river. Stacie kissed the spot behind Aubrey's ear. "Come on, I'm hungry."

They walked back to the street where Stacie's driver was already waiting for them. As soon as he closed the door, Stacie turned to kiss Aubrey again. Aubrey smiled and kissed her back, she hoped she'd never get used to the feeling of Stacie's lips against her own. She didn't even care about where they were going anymore.

The car stopped. Stacie slowed down the kiss. "We're here." Aubrey started to pull away but Stacie followed her lips. "Or we can just stay here and make out."

Aubrey placed a hand on Stacie's shoulder and pushed her back. "No, I want to know what you planned."

Stacie got out of the car and took Aubrey's hand. Her driver handed her a picnic basket and told her he'd be waiting there. They were standing outside what looked like the entrance of a park but Aubrey had no idea where they were. Stacie walked towards the gate and greeted a man who was standing there seemingly waiting for them. He opened the gate and escorted them in. Stacie thanked them and pulled Aubrey inside. They entered a corridor illuminated by light poles on either side."Stace, where are we?"

"The Brooklyn Botanic Garden." Stacie said factually. "We're having a picnic at the Osborne Garden."

Stacie pulled her up along the path to a long stretch of lawn flanked by beautiful arches. Aubrey opened her mouth and looked around. "This is beautiful. How do you even know about this place?"

"I did a show here with my mom last year. The runway went down the lawn, it was amazing." Stacie smiled.

"I'm gonna have to see pictures from that."

They walked along one of the sides under the arches and stopped at a bench. Stacie opened the basket and pulled out a couple of sandwiches, handing one to Aubrey. She reached in again and handed her a juice box. Aubrey unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. They tasted familiar. She took another bite. "These are from the deli by school."

"Yeah, Chloe said you liked them so I went there before picking you up."

Aubrey smiled and kissed her. "You're the best."

They finished their food and Stacie put all their trash back in the basket. "I have cookies but you already had dessert."

"I want a cookie." Aubrey pouted.

Stacie kissed her until she felt her smile against her lips. She broke the kiss and pulled out a chocolate chip cookie. Aubrey took it and pecked her lips. "We can share it."

They finished the cookie and Stacie stood up. "Come, I want to show you something."

They walked to the end of the path and reached a fountain. There was a semicircle of benches surrounding the fountain and Stacie took Aubrey and sat her on one side. "Stay here."

Stacie walked to the other side and sat. "Can you hear me?"

Aubrey gasped. She had barely seen Stacie's lips move in the dark, and she was whispering, but she heard her as if she was sitting right next to her. "Yes" Aubrey looked up at Stacie and she waved. "I love this, it's so cool."

"I wanted to ask you something." Aubrey didn't like not being able to see Stacie's face, she didn't know if she should be nervous or not. "I know this might be really stupid since we're graduating this year and I still don't know where I'm going to college and we'll probably end up on different sides of the country, but I really feel a connection with you and I want to see where this goes. And I know this is our first date and we really just started not hating each other so this might be too soon, but I would really like to be your girlfriend, officially."

"Stace."

"I know, I know my reputation, and this is not me trying to reassure you by offering commitment prematurely. I just feel that I would really like it if I could call you my girlfriend." Stacie closed her eyes. "Unless you're not ready, which I totally understand. I mean, we don't really know each other that well, what are we even doing right?"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Stacie looked up and found Aubrey smirking down at her. She was so focused on what she was saying that she didn't hear her approaching. Aubrey cupped Stacie's cheek. "You're not letting me answer."

Stacie pressed her lips together and waited holding her breath. "I'd really like calling you my girlfriend too." Aubrey bent down and kissed Stacie.

* * *

Stacie shook Aubrey awake. Aubrey looked up at her with a sleepy smile. "We're back."

Aubrey yawned. "I fell asleep?"

"Yeah, we were still in Brooklyn." Stacie chuckled.

"You should've woken me up." She straightened up and saw they were outside her building.

Stacie kissed her. "You looked too cute."

"I don't want to go home yet!" Aubrey protested and yawned again.

"You're tired."

"I'm not, I just took a nap." Aubrey smiled and threw her arms around Stacie's neck.

Stacie smiled and kissed her briefly. "Go before I change my mind and kidnap you."

"You should do that."

Stacie chuckled. "If I wasn't afraid of your dad I would, but I have this new girlfriend and I don't think she'd like it if I got murdered."

Aubrey bit her lip and shook her head. "She wouldn't" She pulled her down for one last kiss, her fingers lightly scratching the back of her head.

She got out and stood by the open car door. Stacie tried to get out to walk her to the door but she pushed her back inside. "Stay, or I'll never make it upstairs."

"Okay."

"Goodnight." Aubrey turned and walked away, turning back to look over her shoulder as she got to her door. Stacie waved knowing she probably looked like an idiot but she didn't care, Aubrey was her girlfriend.


	6. Epilogue

Beca winced as her hair was pulled into a tight bun. "Remind me again why I'm doing this."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Because you love Chloe and this will make her happy."

They were sitting side by side in Stacie's mom's studio getting their hair and makeup done. Beca was wearing a dark blue halter top dress with a low back. Stacie was wearing a black strapless dress, there was a slit on the side going up to mid thigh.

"Prom is stupid." Beca crossed her arms frowning.

"It's gonna be fun, stop being a party pooper. And Chloe's dress is super hot."

"I wouldn't know, she hasn't let me see it. You'd think it's her wedding dress."

Stacie laughed. "Yeah, Bree hasn't let me seen hers either."

Stacie's mom walked into the room and smiled. "You girls look amazing. The photographer is ready."

"Thanks, mom."

As soon as Stacie's mom left Beca groaned. "Do we really need a professional photographer to take our prom pictures?"

"Please, like I'm gonna let some random person capture all of this." Stacie motioned at herself. "Besides, it's my last professional shoot."

"You're quitting?" Beca raised her eyebrows. She knew Stacie didn't like it but she didn't think she'd quit.

Stacie shrugged. "Yeah, I won't have time to do it when I'm in Princeton. I told my mom today."

Stacie's phone rang and she turned to pick it up, smiling when she saw it was Aubrey. "Hi, baby…. Yes, we're almost done… Yes, I have it with me…. No, Beca's ready too, we won't be late…" Beca rolled her eyes. "Okay… I love you… Bye."

Stacie sighed as she hung up the phone. "She's a little stressed."

Beca snorted. "Yeah, that happens when you're not around. When you went to Milan for fashion week, she almost killed everyone on the debate team."

Stacie chuckled. "I know, they made me promise to take her with me whenever I went somewhere."

"What's gonna happen when she's in Yale and you're in Princeton?"

Stacie shrugged. She never talked about what Aubrey and her had planned for when they went to college. When Aubrey got her acceptance letter for Yale, Stacie had already decided to go to Princeton. In theory they'd be close enough to see each other on the weekends and skype during the week, but in practice Stacie wasn't so sure it would work. Telling Beca would only make her worry more and then she wouldn't be able to hide it from Aubrey. "We'll make it work."

"Yeah, that's the same thing you say every time I ask you and I believe it less each time."

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Let's just go pick up our girlfriends, go to prom and have fun." Stacie got up from her chair and walked out of the room to find the photographer. "We're ready for a couple of pictures here before we go."

Stacie walked the photographer back to where Beca was. "Do we have to take pictures?"

"Yes, now stand there and smile." Stacie grabbed Beca's shoulders and moved her in front of a white backdrop. She stood back.

"Wait, you're not going to be in the picture with me? This is stupid." Beca crossed her arms and frowned.

"He's gonna do a couple with just you and then some of both of us. Now smile." Stacie smiled and pointed at her face. Beca sighed and dropped her arms, smiling.

After what seemed like hours to Beca, they finished taking pictures and left to pick up Aubrey and Chloe. The limo stopped in front of Aubrey's building. Stacie took a deep breath and looked out the window. "Everything okay there, Stace?"

"Yeah, let's go." Stacie opened the door and walked to the elevator with Beca.

Aubrey's dad was standing in front of the elevator doors when they opened. "Umm hi, Mr. Posen, I'm gonna go find Chloe." Beca sidestepped him and scurried away.

"Stacie, may I have a word with you?"

"Of course." Stacie followed him to his office cautiously. She had never been in this room, most of the time when she was here they were either in Aubrey's room or in the dining room.

Aubrey had told her parents about them ever since they started dating. If Aubrey's dad hadn't been thrilled by the idea of her daughter being with another girl, he hadn't said anything. He always treated Stacie with respect but he was never as nice as the first time they'd met. Stacie didn't like him, she hated the way he treated Aubrey. But she knew how important it was for Aubrey that her dad approved of her so she tried.

"I wanted to give you something." Stacie tilted her head confused. "I know I have a weird way of showing it but I love Aubrey and I want the best for her. It has taken me some time to accept it but I know you love her too."

He took out a box from inside a drawer of his desk and handed it to Stacie. Stacie opened the box. Inside was a black fountain pen with her initials engraved on the side. "I'm sure I'll still see you before you go away for college but I figured tonight was a good time."

Stacie swallowed the knot in her throat and looked up at him. "Thank you, sir."

"Now, Aubrey is probably anxiously waiting for you out there so you better go." Stacie smiled and nodded before walking out of the room.

She put the box in her purse and walked out to the hall to find that the photographer was already there and was taking pictures of Chloe and Beca. She heard someone coming down the stairs and turned around, gasping when she saw Aubrey in a floor length burgundy dress. A single strap went over her right shoulder and across her back. Her hair was up in an elaborate braided bun. Stacie smiled when she saw she wasn't wearing a necklace and walked to the bottom of the stairs. "You look amazing."

Aubrey smiled back at her. "You don't look so bad yourself."

Aubrey stopped on the last step. She wrapped her arms around Stacie's neck and pecked her lips. Stacie pushed up on the tip of her toes to deepen the kiss but Aubrey moved back. "You can kiss me after the pictures."

Stacie pouted and Aubrey gave her another quick kiss. "If we hurry up you can kiss me sooner."

She stepped around Stacie and started to walk towards Beca and Chloe but Stacie grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the kitchen. "I have something for you."

Stacie took out a small box from her purse and handed it to Aubrey. Aubrey looked nervously at Stacie and then opened it. Inside was a gold chain holding a gold lemniscate. Aubrey traced it with her index finger. "It's beautiful."

Stacie took it out of the box and put it around Aubrey's neck. "It's so you remember that, no matter where you are and whatever happens, I will always love you."

Aubrey turned around and punched Stacie's shoulder. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You can't make me cry before the pictures!" Aubrey turned around to find a napkin.

Stacie stood rubbing her shoulder with a frown. Aubrey returned and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, Stace. I love it." She took Stacie's hand and winked when she looked up. "Let's go take those pictures so I can show you just how much I love it."

When they were done with the pictures, they went down to the limo. Stacie let go of Aubrey's hand for the first time since they walked out of the kitchen and reached around her waist, pulling her close. Aubrey's hand moved to Stacie's knee and started absentmindedly rubbing circles on it while she talked to Chloe and Beca. Stacie rested her chin on Aubrey's shoulder and waited for a lull in the conversation. "I want my kiss now."

Aubrey turned and smiled, leaning in to kiss her. Stacie scooted closer and bit her bottom lip softly, tilting her head to deepen the kiss once Aubrey opened her mouth. Aubrey moaned, her hand travelling up Stacie's leg.

"Okay, this whole we can't keep our hands off each other thing was cute for the first month or so but it's been nine months." Beca rolled her eyes.

Stacie waved her arm trying to reach her and hit her while she continued to kiss Aubrey. Chloe giggled and swatted Beca's leg. "Let them be, they're young and in love."

"Yes, we're young and in love." Stacie said moving to kiss Aubrey's neck.

"We're young and in love too, you don't see me trying to take out Chloe's tonsils with my tongue in front of you."

Chloe raised her eyebrows and grinned at her. "Maybe you should."

Beca smiled and started to lean in but Stacie poked her. "Hey, you can't interrupt us just to turn around and start making out!"

Beca glared at her. "Your lips are still on Aubrey!"

Stacie huffed and sat back. She looked at Aubrey's neck and smiled. "Babe, do you have a tissue? Your neck is covered in lipstick."

Beca snorted. "Yeah, and you both look like clowns."

Aubrey took out a mirror and some tissues and fixed her lipstick while Stacie wiped her neck. "See, this is why I made you wait until after the pictures."

"You look really hot with your lipstick smudged." Stacie smirked.

Aubrey smiled and placed her index finger on her lips. "Don't, I just fixed it." Stacie bit her finger.

The car stopped and Beca jumped over them. "Finally, we're here."

"Nice ass, Becs." Stacie slapped her butt as she was getting out.

Beca yelped. "Dude, my girlfriend is right there! Your girlfriend is right there!"

"It was just a friendly tap, relax." Stacie got out of the limo and threw an arm around Beca's shoulder. "We are having fun tonight. Are you ready to have fun, Becs?" Beca rolled her eyes and nodded. "That's my girl."

She squeezed her shoulder before letting her go and turning to find Aubrey. She was standing behind them smirking. "I thought I was your girl."

Stacie grabbed her hand and shook her head. "Beca is my gurl with a U and you're my girl with an I."

Aubrey chuckled and ran her thumb up and down the side of her hand. "You're ridiculous."

Stacie grinned and kissed her cheek. "Ridiculously in love with you."

"Ridiculously cheesy." Aubrey said tapping her nose.

They walked inside and found their table. "I'm going to the bathroom with Chlo to fix my makeup."

Stacie turned to talk to Beca when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Stacie, you look stunning."

"Luke!" Stacie smiled at him. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"Yeah, we decided to come as a group seeing that the best girls already had dates." He winked at Beca over Stacie's shoulder and she rolled her eyes. "Would you like to dance?"

"Oh I just got here, I'm not dancing yet. Aubrey should be right back." Stacie looked in the direction of the bathroom to see if Aubrey was out yet.

"Just one song, I've barely seen you since you started dating her."

Stacie knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she accepted and it was better to get it over with early. "One song."

Luke smirked and held out his hand, taking Stacie and pulling her to the dancefloor. There were only a handful of couples on the dancefloor since a lot of people weren't there yet. Luke stopped on one side and Stacie groaned internally when she realized they were playing a slow song. He dropped her hand and moved his hands to her waist. "I've missed you, Stace. You barely talk to me anymore, I thought we were friends."

"We were never really friends, we just made out."

"We more than made out. Repeatedly." He pulled her closer. "We could still do it."

Stacie pulled away. "You know I'm with Aubrey. Why are you acting like a dick?"

He grabbed her hand loosely. "Hey, I'm sorry. You're right, come back." Stacie rolled her eyes but acquiesced and they went back to dancing. "I respect your relationship with Aubrey. I just saw how hot you looked tonight and I had to try, can you blame me?"

"Just keep your hands to yourself, okay?" Luke smiled innocently and twirled her.

Aubrey got back to their table. "Where did Stacie go?"

Beca's eyes opened wide. "Umm, she's dancing?"

Aubrey whirled around and her jaw dropped when she saw who Stacie was dancing with. When they had started dating, Stacie had told her which rumors about her promiscuity were true, Luke was one of them. She sat down and Chloe hurried to the chair next to her. "They're just dancing, Bree. It doesn't mean anything."

"I know." Aubrey nodded. She knew Stacie loved her and didn't want to be with anyone else. And she didn't want to be the crazy girlfriend who didn't let her dance with other people but she she still got jealous. Aubrey turned to face the table. "It's okay, Stacie can dance with whoever she wants."

When the song ended, Stacie walked back to their table. "You're back!" She sat down and kissed Aubrey's cheek.

Aubrey nodded and tightened her grip on her glass. "Yes, a bit ago."

Stacie noticed and placed her hand on Aubrey's leg. "Do you wanna dance?"

Aubrey gave her a small smile. "Sure."

They got to the dancefloor and Stacie wrapped her arms over her shoulders, running her fingers up and down the back of her neck. "Did it bother you that I danced with Luke?"

"What? No, of course not." Aubrey scoffed.

"Bree…"

"Okay, maybe it bothered me a tiny little bit." Stacie opened her mouth but Aubrey cut her off. "But I trust you, I don't want you to feel like you can't dance or do whatever with other people. We're gonna be living in different places, I'm gonna have to get used to being a little jealous without making it a thing."

Stacie looked at her for a moment before kissing her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Stacie rested her head on her shoulder. "For the sake of honesty, I feel like I should tell you he did try to make a move on me."

"That little prick, I'm gonna punch him so hard he's gonna lose his accent."

Stacie moved her arms to her waist and held her back. "Baby, calm down. I told him no, and he backed off."

Aubrey slumped against Stacie. "See, this is what I mean!" She turned around and cupped Stacie's face. "I need to accept the fact that people might flirt with you when I'm not there."

"You don't have anything to worry about. I'm yours."

Aubrey smiled and brought their foreheads together. "I know."

Stacie kissed her. "We're going to be okay."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this! Hope you liked it. There might be a sequel at some point in the future if anyone's interested.**


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